EU’s Vestager triumphs in crackdown on Apple’s tax deal, Google’s practices

[1/2]European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager holds a press conference after Europe’s top court ruling on Apple’s fight against an order by EU competition regulators to pay a record 13 billion euros in back taxes to Ireland, in Brussels, Belgium September 10, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

Still, it has cooperated in an overhaul of global corporate tax rules and did the once unthinkable by dropping its opposition to giving up its prized 12.5% corporate tax rate. But its tax take from multinational firms has actually increased since.

The Court also threw out Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab unit Google’s appeal against a 2.42 billion euro fine levied by Vestager seven years ago, the first of a trio of hefty fines meted out to the company for various anti-competitive practices.

“In the light of the characteristics of the market and the specific circumstances of the case, Google’s conduct was discriminatory and did not fall within the scope of competition on the merits,” judges said.

Google voiced disappointment with the ruling.

“This judgment relates to a very specific set of facts. We made changes back in 2017 to comply with the European Commission’s decision,” a spokesperson said.

The Commission fined the world’s most popular internet search engine in 2017 for using its own price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals.

Google has racked up 8.25 billion euros in EU antitrust fines in the last decade. It has challenged two rulings involving its Android mobile operating system and AdSense advertising service, and is now waiting for the judgments.

It is also fighting against EU antitrust charges issued last year that could force it to sell part of its lucrative adtech business after regulators accused it of favouring its own advertising services.

Both rulings are final and cannot be appealed.

The cases are C-465/20 P Commission v Ireland and Others and C-48/22 P Google and Alphabet v Commission (Google Shopping).

There are also ongoing investigations into IKEA brand owner Inter IKEA’s Dutch tax arrangement in a case dating from 2017, Nike’s (NKE.N), opens new tab Dutch tax agreement, and Finnish food and drink packaging company Huhtamaki’s (HUH1V.HE), opens new tab Luxembourg tax deal.

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Additional reporting by Marine Strauss and Charlotte Van Campenhout in Brussels, Conor Humphries in Dublin, Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Jan Harvey

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An agenda-setting and market-moving journalist, Foo Yun Chee is a 21-year veteran at Reuters. Her stories on high profile mergers have pushed up the European telecoms index, lifted companies’ shares and helped investors decide on their next move. Her knowledge and experience of European antitrust laws and developments helped her break stories on Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple, numerous market-moving mergers and antitrust investigations. She has previously reported on Greek politics and companies, when Greece’s entry into the eurozone meant it punched above its weight on the international stage, as well as on Dutch corporate giants and the quirks of Dutch society and culture that never fail to charm readers.

Source link : https://www.reuters.com/technology/apple-loses-fight-against-13-billion-euro-eu-tax-order-ireland-2024-09-10/

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Publish date : 2024-09-10 07:00:00

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